Social Service League celebrates new design

The Social Service League of La Jolla showed off its newly-decorated digs at Darlington House recently. The mansion - with its elegant interior, stunning patios, fountains, and gardens - is used for weddings and receptions, and constitutes a major source of income for the charitable organization. One thing the League was determined to do was to “treasure the past while embracing the new.” Therefore, the new designs are consistent with the traditional architecture of the historic home.

As designer Patricia Jasper observed, “We wanted everything to be re-done. After all, it’s been 20 years since the house was decorated.” Darlington House director Valmere Knapp summed up the members’ reaction in three little words: “I love it.”

The afternoon reception celebrating the magnificent new decor featured passed hors d’oeuvres, and gave members of the group a chance to admire the new color scheme for the draperies, carpets, wall coverings, and furniture. Some of the original pieces were re-upholstered and refinished, while others were replaced to create the welcoming new look.

Although those in attendance at the new Safe, Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative (SHNI) meeting Sept. 4 in the La Jolla Library were seeking local solutions to the homelessness they’ve observed in their neighborhoods, they were met instead with broader City- and County-wide resources that address the varied facets of this very complex issue.

Sitting at the Brick & Bell coffee shop in La Jolla Shores on Sept. 4 with local residents Sandra Munson and Tim Johnson as they catch up over iced teas, one would never know that just three weeks prior, the two were undergoing surgery so Munson could donate a kidney to Johnson.